1．秦中自古帝王都

1．秦中自古帝王都

西安位于陕西省关中平原中部，地跨渭河两岸。作为一座文化历史名城，西安是中国封建社会前期主要建都的地方。在中国历史上，先后有12个王朝在这里建都，历经1000多年，是中国七大古都中建都时间最长的城市。如此漫长的历史也给西安留下了大量的文化遗存和文物古迹。现在的西安已经成为享誉世界的历史文化名城，也是国际热点旅游城市。

西安城的南面是中国著名的秦岭山脉，北面是陕北高原的南缘山脉，虽然都距离西安城较远，但山体高大耸立，成为西安城的天然屏障。西安附近河流众多，为城市的发展提供了丰富的水源和便利的水路交通。此外关中平原还是通往西南和西北的咽喉，地势险要，战略地位十分重要。正是有了这些优越的自然条件，历史上先后有周、秦、汉、唐等12个王朝选择在这里建都。

大约在公元前1122～前1027年，周人在渭河流域崛起，向东发展，灭掉了控制中原的商王朝，建立了周王朝，并以丰镐为国都。丰镐，原是两个地名。周文王在世时，在丰水之侧建了一座都城，号丰都。周武王姬发继位后，在其侧的镐地再建一座都城，号镐都。丰都与镐都，相距极近，因而古代文献上经常将两个都城合称为“丰镐”。这是在这里出现的最早的国都。周文王和武王在这里建都后，他们的后代都继承了这一遗规，不再有大的变动，这主要是因为这里有着重要的军事和经济条件，利于都城的建立和发展。而且这里位于关中的中心地带，有利于控制整个关中地区。据史料记载，丰镐布局完整，都呈正方形分布，规模在当时的城市中已经算是庞大了。丰镐在西周末年开始衰落，到了春秋时期，这一带的地面建筑已经不复存在了。

秦国占据关中平原以后，经过几次迁都，最终定都在濒临渭水的咸阳，故址建在现在的咸阳市东北10千米处。随着秦朝的灭亡，项羽开始大规模地破坏咸阳城，烧毁了秦朝的宫殿，致使一代都城化为灰烬。

由于秦朝的都城咸阳被项羽焚烧一空，汉高祖刘邦不得不在渭河南岸重建都城，这就是西安近郊最早的城市。当时仅仅修建了长乐和未央两座宫殿。公元前200年，长安被正式定为国都，统治者开始对长安进行大规模的修建。特别是在国力强盛的汉武帝时期开始大兴土木，在未央宫的北面增修了汉高祖时没有完成的北宫，另外又修建了桂宫，在长乐宫的北面修建了明光宫，这些宫殿组成了一组宫殿群，规模很非常宏大。汉代长安城位于现在西安西北的汉城一带，周长25.7千米，面积36平方千米。汉代时长安城的外城也有了三个重要的发展，那就是修筑建章宫和明堂，开凿昆明湖和扩展上林苑。规模最为宏大的建章宫宏伟壮丽，是汉武帝为满足其虚荣心而修建的，建章宫的建材十分奢华，楼顶装饰有镀金的铜凤，连台阶都是用玉石砌成的。明堂是用来祭祀拜祖的。昆明湖为长安城提供了一个巨大的水库，很好的解决了供水和漕运的问题。上林苑是皇帝狩猎的场所，里面亭台楼阁，瞩目相望，还布满奇兽异禽，名树异草。

汉代长安城是当时世界上最宏伟壮丽的城市之一，这也为后来的几个朝代在西安建都奠定了一定的基础。

隋朝建立以后，也在长安地区建都。隋文帝修建了一座规模更大、布局更加整齐的城市，叫做“大兴城”。唐朝建立以后，便在隋朝大兴城的基础上加以扩建，形成了唐代的国都长安城。唐长安城规模十分庞大，全城周长36.7千米，面积84平方千米，几乎是现在西安城的10倍。作为全国行政中枢的皇城和宫城位于外城墙的北部中央，是唐长安城的核心。城市布局鲜明，街道整齐划一，宫殿区、行政区、住宅区等都严格分开。城市的平面布局呈一个正方形，以六条东西向的高坡和核心进行设计建造，皇宫、政府机关、重要的寺院等大都建造高坡上，这种布局安排除了显示皇权的至高无上外还充分利用了地形的特点，增大了城市的立体空间。唐长安城采用左右对称的布局格式，有明显的中轴线，这种布局特点，对中国城市的发展有着深远的影响。

在唐朝近300年的历史中，长安不仅是中国的政治、经济、文化中心，还是当时世界上著名的商贸和文化中心之一。唐朝末年，长安城遭到了严重的破坏，朱温拆毁了长安城，从此长安便失去了国都的地位。后来，节度使韩建在皇城的基础上又修建了一座新城，这就是五代、宋、元时期的长安城。到了明代，在此基础上加以扩展，重新构筑了城墙，使西安成为控制西南和西北的军事重镇。在明代，“西安”这一名称第一次出现在历史上，反映了统治者希望西北安定的愿望。

清朝沿用了明代的“西安府”这一名称。

1. History

In the middle of the Guanzhong Plain in Shaanxi province, there is a city called Xi'an. Nourished by the Weihe River which runs through it, the fertile land of Xi'an attracted twelve emperors in the early Chinese feudal history who made Xi'an the capital of their dynasties. The over one thousand years of history as a feudal capital makes Xi'an the most ancient one among all the seven ancient capitals in China and endows the land with numerous cultural and historical relics which have helped establish its world fame as a historically and culturally renowned city and as an internationally reputed tourist destination.

Xi'an was chosen to be the capital in the Zhou, Qin, Han, Tang and other dynasties for good reasons: far as they are from the city proper, the grand and lofty Qinling Ridge to the south and Nanyuan Ridge to the north are a natural defense for the city; rivers that run by or run through means abundant water resources and convenient waterway transportation; and the Guanzhong Plain, the vital passage to China's southwest and northeast that was difficult to access then, is a place of strategic importance.

From around 1122 BC to 1027 BC, on the valley of Weihe River, a group of people who are called Zhou people in Chinese history began to rise and gradually stretched their presence to the east. After they defeated the Shang dynasty, the second slavery-based state in the Chinese history and the ruler of the Central Plains then, Zhou people founded the Zhou dynasty with Fenghao as its capital. Fenghao were actually two places. The first king of Zhou dynasty, who was titled as King Wen after his death, built a capital on one side of the Feng River and named it "Feng" after the river, and later his successor King Wu built another capital on the other side of the river and named it "Hao". These two capitals were so close geographically that they were often referred to as "Fenghao" in the ancient literature. Fenghao was the first capital in this area. Succeeding kings in Zhou dynasty continued to appoint Fenghao as the capital, mainly because it has favorable conditions for both military and economic development, thus an ideal place for capital. It was easy for the king to put the whole Guanzhong (the Weihe River basin) under control, for Fenghao was virtually the centre of the area. According to historical records, the capital city had a complete layout, resembling a square from a bird's view, and was considerably large compared with other cities then. Nonetheless, towards the end of the Western Zhou dynasty, the city began to fall; and in the Autumn and Spring period, all the buildings above the ground were destroyed and no longer seen.

Then came the Qin dynasty. Having moved the capital several times, the state of Qin, the ruler over the Guanzhong Plain and the founder of the Qin dynasty, finally built its capital in Xianyang, which lies on the bank of the Weihe River and is about 10 kilometers northeast to today's city of Xianyang. After the fall of the Qin dynasty, an insurgent general Xiang Yu marched into Xianyang and burned the once glamorous palaces to ashes.

Thus unable to use the capital city of the previous dynasty, the first emperor of the Han dynasty, whose name was Liu Bang, had to build on the south bank of the Weihe River a new capital and named it Chang'an (literally means lasting stability), the earliest city that was built in the suburbs of Xi'an. Emperor Liu Bang only built two palaces, Changle Palace (Palace of Perpetual Happiness) and Weiyang Palace (Palace of Endlessness). After 200 BC when Chang'an was officially designated as capital, succeeding rulers began a large-scale construction of the city who saw its most glamorous times during the reign of Emperor Wu, the most powerful period in the Han dynasty. Started by Emperor Liu Bang, the construction of the North Palace annexed to Weiyang Palace was finished by Emperor Wu. In addition, two new palaces, the Gui Palace (Palace of Laurel) and the Mingguang Palace (the Palace of Brightness) to the north of the Changle Palace were erected. Thus a magnificent palace complex took shape.

Situated in the northwest of today's Xi'an, Chang'an in the Han dynasty was 25.7 kilometers in girth and 36 square kilometers in area. In the outer city, there were the Jianzhang Palace, the Ancestral Shrine, the Kunming Lake and the Shanglin Garden. With gilded copper phoenix decorating the roof and stairs made of jade stone, Jianzhang Palace was luxurious enough to gratify Emperor Wu's vanity as it was originally intended. The Ancestral Shrine was the place to worship ancestors. Kunming Lake, the big reservoir in Chang'an, not only provided Chang'an residents with water but also backed water transportation. For emperors, Shanglin Garden was a place for fun. There, they joyfully chased after the animals and birds among the trees and showed off their booties in pavilions.

Chang'an was one of world's most magnificent cities then. However, the Han dynasty was by no means its heyday, and later dynasties would continue to build on its grandeur.

In the Sui dynasty, Chang'an was made the capital once again. But it was even larger in area and a lot more orderly in layout. The first Emperor of the Sui dynasty, Emperor Wen, named his capital "the city of Daxing" (which literally means great prosperity). After the Tang dynasty substituted Sui, the capital, renamed Chang'an, was expanded into an unprecedented one, 36.7 kilometers in girth and 84 square kilometers in area, nearly 10 times larger than present Xi'an city. With the imperial city and the imperial palace as the center, Chang'an was clearly divided into a palace area, an administrative area and a residential area. All the imperial palaces, administrative organs and important temples were constructed on the six high slopes that stretched from east to west. Such a layout reflects the supremacy of the imperial power on the one hand and enlarges the city's space on the other. All buildings in Chang'an were constructed symmetrically along a central axis. This layout has a far-reaching impact on the urban development in China.

During the nearly 300 years when the Tang dynasty ruled China, Chang'an was not only a national political, economic and cultural centre but also an international trading and cultural centre. In the late Tang dynasty, however, Chang'an was destroyed to a great extent. When Zhu Wen (a military commissioner who made Emperor Zhaozong of the Tang dynasty abdicate in 907 and became the first emperor of the Later Liang) forced the Emperor Zhaozong of the Tang dynasty to move its capital from Chang'an to Luoyang and ordered to demolish the city, Chang'an finally lost its status as the capital. Later, on the site of the original imperial city, Han Jian (another military commissioner) built a new city which was referred to as Chang'an during the Five Dynasties, the Song dynasty and the Yuan dynasty. In the Ming dynasty, city walls were constructed, making Chang'an a town of military importance for the control over the southwest and northwest. For the first time in history, Chang'an was renamed Xi'an (literally means "west peace"), reflecting the ruler's wish to keep the northeast stable and secure.

The name of Xi'an was kept by the Qing dynasty.